Georgia | Applied Civic Education and Teacher Training (ACETT) program for Georgia | 5 Jan 2012

You Are Not Alone was the slogan of a charity event organized by civics club members at Tbilisi Public School #51. The event, hosted within the framework of PH International’s Applied Civic Education and Teacher Training Program and funded by USAID, raised funds and support for Jana Vakhtangishvili, the 19-year-old single mother of a three-year-old daughter. Jana was internally displaced from the village of Eredvi in South Ossetia following an armed conflict with Russia in August 2008. Civics club members hoped to raise needed money for the family through a fundraising campaign and charity concert, using social media to spread information about the family and the event. Their aggressive promotion paid off and several other schools joined the effort. On December 9, 2011, the concert was held for the family, featuring Inga Beradze, a famous Georgian singer, and students in a school folk group. Other guests included parents, teachers and administration, as well as Gocha Tkeshelashvili, the host of a popular television game show. Thanks to the hard work of the students, 500 lari was collected for the family, as well as food and gifts for Jana and her daughter. Jana responded to the outpouring of compassion with a tearful thanks: “I've never felt such kindness and love. I really believe now that everything will be fine. Thank you for giving me the gift of hope.”